CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
I’m exhausted. I remember waking up this morning, going to the council, taking the test, and the blessing beginning. After that, it’s a complete blank. With great effort, I open my heavy eyes and see I lay on the floor of a stark white room. There doesn’t seem to be any walls or doors. It’s just endless white. I push myself up and spin in a circle, trying to find an exit.
“Don’t bother,” a deep male voice fills the room. “There is no exit unless we provide one.”
I spin around in a circle again, coming to an abrupt stop when I find two men and two women standing in front of me. I squeal and jump back a few feet.
“Wh-who are y-y-you?” I ask, trying to keep a brave face, but failing miserably.
I really hope Samael didn’t send them for me. I’m all alone this time, no one to help me defend myself. These four people radiate power and importance, and I know I wouldn’t stand a chance against them.
“Calm your heart, child,” the woman standing next to the first male speaks softly. My heart slows, as if under the spell of her voice. Her straight black hair falls to her waist. She wears a flowing gown with different shades of blue intertwined around the skirt. The top is decorated with glittery beading. It almost looks like what I’d imagine the surface of the ocean does when the sun hits it. “We are not here to harm you, we are here to help you.”
“Wh-wh-where is h-h-here?” I stutter, trying to gain some confidence.
“That is of no importance, Chosen One,” the larger of the two men says, with an easy grin on his face. His build is even bulkier than the bald guy from the fast car movies Caleb likes to watch. His dark brown hair falls to his long-bearded chin. He wears a bright-red toga with a brown leather belt holding it closed around his waist. His feet are covered with brown leather sandals. I wouldn’t expect someone as intimidating as him to be this calm and easy going. “We are here to speak to you about what is coming your way. I am Hakan, god of Fire, this is my Soulmate Binda, goddess of Water,” he explains while gesturing to the woman in blue.
“I am Niyol, god of Air, and this is my Soulmate, Mikaia, goddess of Earth,” the second male adds.
He’s almost as large as Hakan. He doesn’t have a beard like Hakan, but his light brown hair hits his shoulders. He wears a stark white toga with a gray leather belt around his waist. The material of his outfit, along with his hair, seem to flow around him, as if moved by some unseen wind.
Niyol’s Soulmate, Mikaia’s, curly white-blond hair hits her shoulders. Her floral gown is impossibly realistic, as if someone pressed real flowers into the material. “You, my dear, are Riley Storm. You are the girl we have Chosen to fight the Fallen and bring peace to our people.”
“B-b-but,” I sputter. “I’m j-j-just some girl, a n-n-nobody. I didn’t even g-g-get these powers until m-m-my birthday. My mother w-w-wasn’t even an Elemental. How’s a-a-any of this even p-p-possible? H-h-how do you e-e-expect me to l-l-lead people when I c-c-can’t even t-t-talk to people?”
“First, your mother was an Elemental, she just did not pass her tests before the age of eighteen. She was never blessed. We had to alter her memory so she didn’t remember anything about our world as we do with all Elementals who do not pass their test in time. We are convinced she would have ended up a Fallen if she had passed her test as she was not a pleasant woman. Normally, we would not allow someone who has not been blessed to have a child with an affinity for the elements. However, we knew your father would find his way to you, and he would be the perfect person to help you through this battle,” Hakan explains with a serious expression.
“Riley, it is important you understand something,” Mikaia says, softly. “You will lose this battle if you do not trust your family. Jaxon, Cassie, Leanne, Mark, and Caleb. Trust them all, without doubt and without exception.”
“I t-t-try to,” I whisper, knowing I’m not fully there yet when it comes to trusting everyone in my family. They’re all loving, they never hurt me, but it’s a lifetime of habit I’m trying to break.
“You are.” Niyol beams. “You have done extraordinarily well, Chosen One. We are incredibly proud of how well you have accepted your fate. We want you to understand, we didn’t give you your gifts until recently because we knew you would not have anyone there to help you with them. We also knew you would be able to master your affinities quickly and efficiently. We never worried about you passing your test.”
“Samael is getting an army ready,” Binda confesses with sad eyes. “Nakpana, the god of evil and darkness, told him about you. We wish we knew how he found out who you were before you had even gotten your powers. We think he just had a suspicion and told Samael to get close to your mother. It allowed him to keep an eye on you. When you set fire to the kitchen on your birthday, you confirmed to Samael you are the Chosen. Your unusual background tipped him off. You hadn’t shown any obvious signs of being an Elemental around him until then. When it happened suddenly he figured it out quickly. He has been getting an army of Fallen together since that day. It took him a bit to find you, but now that he has, it won’t be long before they come after you.”
“What a-a-am I supposed t-t-to do?” I ask, panicked.
“You will know when the time comes.” Hakan replies. “For now, you must work on trusting your family. You must train hard and be ready to fight. Let your family know what we have told you, but no one else. Not even the council. This is especially important.”
“I u-u-understand.” I nod to them.
“You will do wonderfully, my dear,” Mikaia assures me kindly. “Good luck and know we will always be here with you. Now, get back to your Soulmate before he has a heart attack.”
With that, the room goes pitch black and I feel as if I’m falling. The rush of the drop slows and I gently drift down as if someone is laying me on the ground.
“What the fuck did you do to my sister?” Jaxon’s voice breaks through the darkness, jolting me back to reality.
“We have never done this before, Jaxon,” Scarlett sounds shaken by Jaxon’s anger. “We have no idea what happened.”
“Baby, you can’t keep passing out on me like this,” Caleb’s voice whispers in my ear.
Coming back to myself a bit more, I realize he’s holding me on his lap. I blink my eyes open and peer up at my Soulmate.
“Hi,” I whisper. Not the most intelligent or profound thing to say, but he doesn’t seem to care. Every part of his body touching mine causes invisible electricity to spark against my skin.
The way everyone tried to describe finding your Soulmate to me finally clicks into place. Everything in me calls out to Caleb and I genuinely feel the same from him. Our souls are linked and it’s a physical feeling I can identify now. My life suddenly means nothing without him. He possesses every beat of my heart and I feel every beat of his.
“Fucking hell, baby girl,” Caleb chokes, pulling me into a hug. “If you do that one more time, I’m going to lock you in my room and never let you out again. We are not making a habit of this passing out shit, got it?”
My heart melts a little at his concern, while his touch rights my world. “I’ll do my best, Caleb.”
My arms wrap around his neck, and I hug him back.
I have so much to tell him, to tell all of my family. The future terrifies me, but in this moment, wrapped in my Soulmate’s arms, I believe everything will be okay. We’ll stop Samael and whatever evil he and the other Fallen are planning. .
All I need to do is trust in them, and learn to trust in myself.